The Trip
by Maritius
Summary: Shinji and Asuka go on a Holiday to Okinawa ... but can they stand 5 days together alone? With a little help, the two discover that they aren't so different after all! - AxS, Danger: WAFF ahead, read with caution.
1. Chapter 1: The Pain

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

_So this is Chapter 1 of a roughly 10 Chapter story ... I hope. *Crosses Fingers*  
It's gonna be a pretty Waffy ride, so I'd hold on to your luv hats :P  
No Waff in this chapter though, that will appear soon._

_Anyway, without further ado, here it is. Please R & R!_

_Special thanks to DeadlyPole for the Pre-read._

_

* * *

_

If Shinji knew how bad his day was going to be, he probably wouldn't have woken up. He would have stayed in bed all day, listening to his SDAT. Sadly however, he could not see into the future, and as such, could not view the fate which awaited him; the fate in which one particular redheaded girl would bring.

His body gradually began to awaken …

* * *

Shinji opened his eyes slowly.

He stared at the familiar ceiling above him. This sight greeted him most mornings. After a few minutes he rolled over, his eyes adjusted to the brightness which streamed in through his semi open blinds.

His alarm clock slowly blinked _7:29_ at him through the morning light.

The very faint sound of light morning traffic, construction and squawking of birdlife could be heard drifting through his partly opened window. It was soothing, almost calming.

He felt nice this morning. He couldn't place why. '_One of those mornings I guess'_, he thought, relieved that he didn't have one of his usual morning headaches. After a few more final moments of savouring the comfort, he slowly began to rise_, _trying to preserve the calm he was feeling. '_Suppose I should start making breakfast_.'

He pulled on his usual school clothes, and still feeling a tad sleepy, waddled down the hall into the kitchen. Within minutes, the delicious aroma of bacon and eggs wafted through the house. Shinji was quite content, moving around the kitchen with confidence he never possessed anywhere else, oblivious as usual to the world around him. He liked cooking; it helped him take his mind off everything that had, and was happening to him. It was strange; making breakfast was something he always subconsciously looked forward to.

Soon he heard a commotion as his other two housemates began to awake from their slumber. The muffled sounds of clothes being thrown, early morning curses, doors opening and showers running could be heard. They were familiar noises. Noises he heard every day. Noises that gave him comfort that he was not alone, however at the same time, noises he dreaded. Soon they would be here and the day would begin. Shinji even let out a small sigh at the thought of everything he would have to go through today, just like the days that had come before.

The sound of footsteps approaching the kitchen brought him out of his thoughts, and he hurriedly scrambled to make sure the food was ready.

Shinji was just putting the last morsels on the table when a fiery redhead entered the room.

"M-morning Asuka," Shinji said, immediately regretting his involuntary stutter.

"Morning Baka," she replied hoarsely. Her tone of voice suggesting she was still waking up, but had not noticed his falter.

She plopped into her usual seat at the table with a sigh and began to shovel food into her open mouth. Shinji was always surprised at the speed at which the Second Child ate. She was like a vacuum cleaner for food.

_'__Does she even chew?_' the Third Child thought with a slight grin, but it was immediately wiped off his face when Asuka noticed him staring.

"Whotcha hell are yew schneering at Third Choild?" she questioned, her mouth still half filled with bacon and eggs, a glare plastered on her food stuffed face.

"N-nothing!" he replied quickly, retreating out of the room with speed.

She gave him one more menacing glare before returning to devour her meal.

As Shinji nervously entered the kitchen, he was startled by a yell. "!"

Misato crushed the empty beer can and chucked it over her shoulder, catching the penguin that was currently waddling through the kitchen on top of his head.

"Damn that's good!" she exclaimed happily, not noticing the circles a certain Penguin was now walking in. Shinji knew just moments before that she had been a zombie, until the holy brown liquid had jumpstarted her brain.

"Mornin' Shin-head," Misato greeted the teenager enthusiastically.

"Good Morning Misato," replied Shinji weakly. '_Shin-head? What the hell was in that beer,' _he joked to himself.

With the morning salutes out of the way, Shinji began making lunch for himself and Asuka. When it was complete, he shoved the two lunches into his bag and headed for the door. His roommate waited for him as usual, leaning against the door with her arms crossed. Out of all the things he did with Asuka, this was the only time she ever showed any patience.

"Alright lets go." said Shinji in a spur of light optimism that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Asuka nodded and even let out what could have been a tiny smile.

'_Maybe today would be a good day after all_' thought Shinji.

If only he knew how wrong he was.

* * *

Shinji and Asuka walked together to school as usual, only interrupting the silence to make small talk. Shinji kept peeking small glances at his explosive roommate, noting that she looked really tired, in contrast to her usual fiery self. Even though she looked like she was going to drop dead of exhaustion, she still produced an aura of beauty.

The last couple of months had been good for them.

After the 7th Angel forced them to work together, they had bonded frequently. She still acted her usual Asuka self, with her taunts, insults and physical violence, but it seemed they had accepted each other into their lives. She was a tad nicer to him, not hitting him as often and Shinji could even recall moments where they had done ordinary things together, like sitting in front of the TV one night, having a heated debate about their favourite show's plotline and where it would lead; it was not their usual arguing however, it was the playful kind. The kind you would do with a family member or friend.

'_Friend.'_

_'__Such a strange word to use with Asuka,' _he thought, sneaking a glance at her again. _'She really does look quite tired,'_ he noted, her auburn hair glinting in the morning sun as it spilled over her cute, soft face, only accentuating the bags under her eyes. Noticing her fine features, he suppressed a blush before Asuka could notice.

'_She would truly kill me if she saw that' _he thought, his sweat dropping.

"Hey Asuka, you ok? You look really tired."

"I'm fine baka," she responded with a yawn, irritation on her face, "I just couldn't sleep last night."

Shinji knew why she couldn't sleep; the nightmares. He had walked past her open door one night to get a drink when he saw her withering around on her bed, deep in sleep. She had kicked her covers off in her movement, and she was mumbling incoherently. With a bit of hesitation, he had crept over, not wanting to upset the beast, and replaced her blanket, wrapping it around her lightly. Immediately she had begun to calm down, but he knew it was temporary; he knew she had those nightmares quite often. He left her room that night slightly pleased he had put her at ease for once, instead of irritating her, but he dared not mention it to anyone. If she found out, she would kill him for sure.

They reached the school in the usual amount of time, heading straight to their classroom. Walking through the door, they took their respective places and began chatting to their friends.

"Sup, Shin-man?" chimed Touji, leaning back on his creaky chair, feet resting on his desk.

"Nothing much," replied Shinji, sitting down at his desk, sneaking a final glance at Asuka. She was chatting with Hikari as usual, but she seemed a bit less tired now.

Shinji noted her cuteness once more, actually blushing this time, before he was yanked back to reality by Kensuke's high pitched excited voice.

"Did ya see the show on Military Aircraft last night? It was sooo cool!" exclaimed Kensuke, waving his arms in the air enthusiastically.

Their conversation continued on briefly until the Sensei arrived. The class rep did her usual "Stand. Bow. Sit" routine and before long they had all slipped into their usual boredom stupor.

Shinji was resting his head in his hands, thinking about the morning. '_Why am I suddenly so interested in Asuka?' _He thought, a frown forming on his face. '_Is it because she's kinda nice this morning? Maybe … but I think she's just too tired to do anything __mean to me__. Still, it seems like there is something else …' _

He couldn't quite place why he was feeling so odd, so he sneaked another glance at Asuka. She was lying back in her chair, looking as though she was dying from boredom, mouth open in a suspended yawn.

Shinji looked away quickly. He didn't want Asuka to catch him staring at her. '_I got my reward for that last time' _he thought, rubbing the spot on his ribs where she had hit him. He couldn't shake the weird feeling he had … it was freaking him out. He decided to message Touji.

SHINJI: Hey, have you noticed something different about Asuka today?

TOJ-MAN: besides the fact she hasnt killed us yet?

SHINJI: Very funny. Seriously though, does she seem different today or is it just me?

TOJ-MAN: dont know what youre talking bout man seems the same to me

TOJ-MAN: mind you, you live with her you probs know her better than us

Shinji glanced over at Asuka again trying to spot what was bugging him. Suddenly she shifted, and he glanced away slightly too quickly.

'_Oh no, please don't let her have caught me watching her!'_

Suddenly the message received icon began blinking on his computer.

'_Oh shit.'_

Glancing around cautiously, he took his time opening the message, before it finally appeared on his screen with a semi-audible _Ding_ of satisfaction.

RED02: Did I just catch the great Shinji Ikari gawking at me?

Shinji went cold, a sweat drop forming on his forehead.

He slowly turned to look at Asuka, only to find her sneering at him from across the classroom. He rotated back to his computer robotically and struggled to come up with something.

'_Come on Shinji, think!' _His brain screamed. He knew that if he didn't come up with a plausible excuse, and soon, he wouldn't have a brain to come up with anything. His mind had locked up however, and all that came out was dribble. A single thought came out of nowhere, and with no alternative, he typed it in without thinking.

SHINJI: Ah Sorry, I was only hoping you wanted to have lunch with me today?

Shinji stared at what he had just sent her and suddenly realised what he had written. The young boy swore under his breath, causing several people around him to glance up curiously. '_Oh this is just great! Just freakin great! Now I'm going to get my spine ripped out.'_

To his immense surprise however, he received a message back instead of a smack.

RED02: Hmmm, well I suppose I could grace you with my magnificent presence. Lunchtime, next to the big maple tree. Don't be late.

Shinji stared at his monitor in disbelief. '_I'm not dead?' _His brain was incapable of processing this, and he turned to look at the girl again with a blank look, finding her leaning back on her desk, staring at the ceiling with a grin across her face.

'_This is too weird.'_

He leant back and sighed. '_Hmmm maybe this is good. It might give me a chance to find out what's been bugging me.' _His mood lightened at the thought. He was getting annoyed at this weird feeling which just wouldn't go away.

After what felt like an eternity, the bell finally rang, and students quickly began packing up their stuff, anxious to exit the classroom after their usual pre-lunch bore session.

Touji and Kensuke edged wearily over to Shinji.

"So where are we gonna go for lunch?" asked Touji, rubbing his eyes like he had been sleeping, "The roof as usual?"

"Sorry," Shinji said in his usual apologetic voice, "I'm spending lunchtime with ... Asuka." He said that last word with a weary sigh. Even though he enjoyed Asuka's company (quite a bit in fact, at least when the girl wasn't pummelling him into mush) she could be a handful to put up with, and often he was thankful to get some peace and quiet.

Touji turned to stare at Shinji. "You? Lunch with the devil?" he asked suspiciously, the boy's eyes narrowing, accompanied by an accusatory finger. "Since when?"

Before he could realise what he was about to say, Shinji replied, "Since I asked her." He blushed. '_Damn you brain, I've got to speed you up somehow.'_

Touji and Kensuke stared at him in silence for a moment before they both burst out laughing.

"Good one Shinji" they cried through the laughter, "What's next? You gonna take her fishing?"

They both rolled on the floor, sides splitting whilst Shinji stood above them, an annoyed look on his face. "Would you two cut it out?" he hissed, noticing that lots of their fellow classmates had stopped to see what was so funny.

The laughter had attracted the attention of the girl in question, and she strode over. "What the hell are you two stooges guffawing at?" the Second Child said, contempt lacing her every word.

The two boys got up off the floor.

"Just about you and Shinji's date." Kensuke chortled, brushing himself off.

"A date with him!? With that Baka!?" Asuka tilted her head back, "HA! Never in a million years!"

Even though Asuka always said this kinda stuff, the words still stung him every time. He stayed silent however, and the argument unfolding in front of him continued.

"Oh yeah, that's why you're going to lunch all alone together," teased Kensuke.

"Yeah," Touji joined in, "Gonna go make out or summin?"

The two boys both regretted opening their mouths instantly.

"YOU TWO ARE COMPLETE STOOGES! AS IF I WOULD _EVER_ DO ANYTHING WITH THIS BAKA!" she screamed, causing everyone in the classroom to jump a foot. "BESIDES!" she continued, "Why should I care about what you two dummkopfs think!?" she said crossing her arms at that comment.

"Ok ok!" the two boys gave in, realising it would be harmful to their health if they continued. They had already risked their lives once today; that was enough.

Asuka put her hands on her hips and let out a triumphant "Hmmph!" before turning to Shinji. "Are we going or what!?"

Shinji jumped, "Ah ... yeah."

Asuka turned to leave, but in the argument that had just occurred, she had forgotten that her bag was still sitting next to her desk, and as the young girl took a blind step forward, her foot suddenly caught the shoulder strap. She tripped and fell face first onto the classroom floor.

Laughter erupted around her as she blushed furiously, trying to untangle herself from the bag.

Shinji suddenly appeared over her, concern on his face and a hand stretched out, "Here, let me help you up."

She slapped his hand away, glaring at him. "I don't need your help!" she yelled, her face still red with embarrassment as the class continued to laugh around her, causing her to blush further.

Shinji could see she was furious and he took a step back, seemingly reluctant to help again, but showing a spine he rarely knew he had, he took a deep breath and stepped forward again.

It really was a shame that the class's laughter had nearly died out when he spoke his next words, because it meant that everyone listening could hear what he uttered next, and it was not good.

"Asuka, you seem really tired today. You don't look well. Maybe I should take you home and get you into bed."

There was a gasp from all the students in the classroom and then silence.

Shinji couldn't comprehend what had happened, but suddenly it dawned on him what he had said.

The blood ran out of his face as Asuka began to tremble, her fists clenching.  
_'Oh fuck. I am so de-'_

_SMACK!!!!_

Every single student in the class groaned in anguish as the sound reverberated around the room.

Shinji stumbled to the ground with a thud, not even putting up his hands to cushion the impact. He just lay there. Slowly he put a hand up to touch the side of his face, and pain stabbed through his cheek. He could taste blood.

Asuka stood over him, a shocked look on her face. Even though she was infuriated at what he had said, she realised too late that his intentions had been good. She had slapped him pretty hard; a natural reaction after all this time.

She stood in silence over him, her lip suddenly starting to tremble and without warning she screamed at the boy, her voice faltering only for a moment "Y-you idiot! This is all your fault!"

She pushed through the crowd of students and disappeared through the open door. Around Shinji, the whispers and murmurs of his fellow students broke the silence. The sound of his heart thumping loudly through his head drowned them out, but it could not drown out her words which repeated themselves in his mind.

He just lay there, listening.

'_No matter what I do, I just push her away.'_

_

* * *

  
_

Asuka burst through the front door to Misato's flat and slammed it shut behind her, causing several pictures that hung from the walls to come loose and clatter to the floor. Her hair was ruffled, and she was breathing heavily from running all the way from school. The bags which hung under her eyes were even more noticeable than before.

Without missing a beat, she ran to her room and threw herself onto the bed. With her face buried in the pillow, she struggled to keep herself under control.

_'__I won't cry, I won't cry, I promised I wouldn't cry!' _the upset girl yelled inwardly to herself fiercely, punching her pillow as hard as she could as she did. The cushion was left unaffected by the attack however, and she continued her mental assault on herself.

Finally after a few minutes, she managed to regain control, sitting up on the bed slowly. So many emotions filled her body, and she struggled to pick them out of the mess.

'_What the hell is happening to me?_' she thought angrily, _'How could I feel so stupid, especially over that idiot,' _She frowned, _'I just hit him, and I do that all the time, how is this any different?'_

Asuka felt disappointed she had come so close to crying, however relieved that she hadn't. After all, she had promised herself. Suddenly she heard a door creak open nearby.

_'__Oh great, now I have to put up with his stupid apologies' _was her first thought, before she realised that her roommate wouldn't be home yet.

She was not surprised, and not pleasantly either, when her door suddenly whipped open and a particular purple haired woman stood in the doorway, dressed simply in short jeans and a baggy yellow T-shirt.

Asuka gulped. She almost wished it was Shinji's stupid face instead of Misato's.

"You. Me. Kitchen. Now!" said the older woman almost growling through gritted teeth.

Asuka sighed, resigned to her fate, and made her way to the kitchen, before sitting down at the table.

Misato grabbed a beer and sat down opposite her, but did not open the can. The older woman glared at the young girl in front of her, her left eye twitching before she began. "What the hell Asuka!?" she almost screamed.

The Eva pilot jumped slightly, but did not respond. She sat in silence, staring blankly at Misato.

"What on Earth possessed you to hit that poor kid?"

Asuka's defensive nature suddenly jumpstarted back into operation.

"Poor kid? That idiot embarrassed me in front of the entire class!" she exclaimed, one hand on her chest, almost as if to protect herself, and the other waving through the air.

"I don't care what he did!" yelled Misato, temporarily quieting the young girl once more as she hit the table with a fist; Asuka had never seen Misato this mad before.

"I don't care if he tried to grope you, and on purpose this time, you are never to hit him like that ever again, do you understand me!?" continued Misato, anger spilling into every word, her eyes piercing Asuka's soul like lasers.

Realising this was a battle she was better off losing, Asuka lowered her head, "Yes Misato," she replied dejectedly.

Misato cracked open her beer and sculled it. She knocked back the last few dregs and finished with a sigh, before she turned again to the redhead. "What did he do anyway? He wouldn't say." Her rant was now over, and she seemed to calm down a bit.

Asuka looked up at her as she reached for another can, "You talked to him?"

With the hiss of escaping gas, Misato leant back with her second beer, "Yeah I got a call from the school and they put him on the phone. I said he could come home if he wanted, but he said he would stay. I guess he couldn't face seeing you just yet," she finished, giving Asuka a guilty glare, but the redhead ignored it.

"So what happened?" urged Misato again after a moment of silence.

The redhead put on her angry face, "That idiot said …" she faltered, reluctant to embarrass herself further.

"Go on," urged Misato rather forcefully.

"He said … I better get you home and into bed."

Misato actually chuckled slightly, "That's it?"

Asuka glared at her, "That's it? The idiot embarrassed me in front of the entire class! Right after I had fallen over too!"

The fiery girl's face went red as she remembered the humiliation, the pain she had felt, and then the weird feelings she had endured when she returned home. Asuka could feel the anger rising inside her again, and the young girl clenched her fists under the table, trying to calm herself.

Misato looked at her with sympathy. "You know he was only trying to help." she said sadly, taking a quick sip from her can.

Asuka averted her gaze, "I know but … I didn't … need that baka's help …" she finished, those last few words coming out as a whisper. She could feel the emotions she had felt earlier bursting to get out, but she held it all in place, gritting her teeth, determined not to show weakness again.

"You know," Misato began, taking another swill of beer from a fresh can, "No one will ever become close to you if you keep pushing them away."

The young girl looked at her guardian, shocked for a moment, before her face turned into her patented Sohryu scowl.

'_Shut up Misato, I didn't mean to hit him THAT hard ...,' _she yelled inwardly at the woman, but she could feel her anger slowly melting away, being replaced by a different, unfamiliar emotion, _'... and it's not like I asked for his help, besides it was that idiot's fault in the first place ...'_ However her anger barrier finally broke when the weight of what she had done finally came crashing down on her, all her anger replaced by a sense of guilt _'... but I suppose Misato is right in her own stupid way. Fine, I guess I will have to apologise to that baka.' _

The young girl reflected back to when she had hit her fellow pilot and uncharacteristically, Asuka felt annoyed at herself for it. The redhead teased him all the time, even hit him on several occasions, but she knew this time, she had hit him just that little bit too hard. Asuka knew she had hurt more than just his jaw. She sighed. '_What am I going to do now?' _

Misato seemed to read her mind, "I think you should do something to make it up to Shinji."

Asuka looked up at her, her trademark scowl returning "Why should I? He was the one who started this whole thing," her facade questioned.

As the girl looked at her guardian, with the midday sun streaming in through the half opened blinds which lit up the woman's soft face, Misato suddenly smiled. It was an evil smile, the kind of smile she put on when she was teasing the two of them, and Asuka began to feel slightly uncomfortable.

'_This can't be good,' _she thought as she looked back at her guardian with a suspicious look.

Finally, Misato reached behind her and pulled something out of her pocket, before silently placing it on the table in front of Asuka.

Asuka leant over slowly and examined what she now realised were two pieces of paper, revealing to Misato a substantial amount of cleavage, before she suddenly realised what they were.

She recoiled in horror, almost falling off the chair. "T-t-tickets to Okinawa!?"

Misato continued to smile maniacally, and Asuka panicked. _'She isn't suggesting what I think she is suggesting is she? Please, anything but that!' _

Misato finally opened her mouth, the sheepish grin still plastered on her face.

"I won these in some stupid lottery," she began, picking the tickets up and waving them in front of her face, "and since I have no one to take with me, I thought this would be a perfect way for you two to learn to get along," she finished cheerily, throwing the tickets down on the table again, enjoying Asuka's look of horror.

"WHAT!?" the redhead snapped, "You have got to be kidding me!?"

Misato giggled, taking another sip of her beer before adding in a suggestive tone, "Did I mention you two will be all alone for 5 days?"

Asuka exploded as Misato half heartedly attempted to block the incoming attacks from the redhead, but it was hard to fend off a pissed teenager when you were laughing so hard. Asuka finally ceased her attacks and dropped her head onto the table with a dull thud. "This can't be happening," she mumbled, her voice muffled by the wood. She looked up at her guardian quickly; determination filling her voice, "I refuse to do it!"

Misato's expression changed so fast that Asuka almost jumped in surprise.

"I think you better take Shinji to Okinawa with you," said Misato, her voice filled with a mix of serious and more serious as she stared down the young girl, "and make sure he has a good time. You owe it to him."

Asuka opened her mouth to retort, but Misato cut her off.

"That's an order."

Asuka sat in stunned silence for a moment before letting out a huge sigh, reluctantly accepting the mission ahead of her.

"Fine!" she snapped, her tone suggesting she was only 6, before adding quickly under her breath, "Hündin."

Misato stood up, confident that her mission was successfully accomplished and turned to leave the room before adding, "Oh and Asuka?"

The redhead looked up at her, and Misato felt a motherly sense of pride as she noted the teenager was turning into one fine young lady.

"Be nice to the kid for once," said the purple haired women with a quick smile, exiting the room before Asuka could retort, leaving the usually exuberant redhead sitting at the table in silence.

'_Today has been weird,'_ she thought lamely, before getting up and drifting back to her room, dragging her feet as she did.

For the next several hours, she attempted to empty her mind, but no matter how hard the young girl strived to forget it, the situation with Shinji and the trip kept pushing its way back into her mind.

'_Go away,' _she willed her mind fiercely, but the boy's stupid face kept popping back into her head.

At first she had been horrified at the thought of spending 5 days alone with that baka, but now that she thought about it a bit more, there were many benefits. She would be at a 5 star resort, she could go shopping and work on her tan, all the things she could barely find time to do here. Besides, Shinji wasn't that bad, just a bit stupid and cowardly. In a weird way, she often found herself liking Shinji's company. Unlike their fellow students, he was the only boy who didn't treat her like a piece of meat on display, or equally annoying, the spawn of Satan.

Although the young girl would never admit it, her fellow pilot was the only boy she felt comfortable around. Even Kaji made her feel a mixture of annoying emotions, including irritation when he chased after Misato.

'_As long as that baka doesn't do anything stupid, I suppose there is no reason why we can't have a good time,'_ she thought, checking her alarm clock, surprised to find it had been almost 2 hours since she had gotten home.

'FINE!' she finally gave into herself after she could not remove her thoughts of the boy, _'I guess I just have to figure out what I'm going to say to him.'_

It took her awhile, as she paced around her room, figuring out what she was going to say. Coincidently, she finished just as she heard the front door slam shut.

She may have been stubborn, but when Asuka realised she had done something wrong (which was almost never) she would at least accept it and take responsibility for her actions, unlike that spineless wimp Shinji. As much as she didn't care for that baka, she had a strange feeling inside, almost as if she didn't want to be on bad terms with him. She shrugged it off in her usual Asuka way.

Remembering the slap he had endured, she almost felt sorry for him, but only for a moment.

_'__I suppose I'll have to make sure I make it up to him.' _

With that, she hoisted herself up off the bed, and went to meet the boy.


	2. Chapter 2: The Apology

**AUTHORS NOTES:**

_Submitted at the same time as Chapter 1, for your reading pleasure.  
Yes it is a short one, but you get 2 Chapters for the price of one. What more could you ask for?_

_Once again, please R&R!_

_Thanks again to DeadlyPole for the pre-read._

_

* * *

  
_

'_Home sweet home,'_ Shinji thought dryly as he closed the door with a sigh.

His day had started out decent enough, but after Asuka had hit him, he couldn't help but feel like shit for the rest of it.

Ever since he had gotten up off the floor, he could feel the stares and the whispers wherever he went. He was bombarded with messages when he returned to his desk; all the boys congratulating him for not only risking his life to use such a lame pickup line on the devil but also for taking a hit from the meanest bitch this side of Japan. The girls asked him how he could be so mean to Asuka, and that he should apologise.

None of them seemed to realise he had been genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. They all thought it was some kind of joke. He ignored the messages, sitting with his head in his hands, staring out the window. His cheek still stung, but he didn't care. All he could hear was Asuka's sharp voice cutting into his thoughts.

'_It's all your fault!'_

He even ignored Touji and Kensuke, who had apologised for getting him into all this. It wasn't really their fault anyway, Shinji had said, before returning to his desk, head down. The two boys had looked at him worryingly, before returning to their own seats.

After what didn't seem like long enough for Shinji, the bell rang, and he was forced to make the long arduous trip back home where he knew more pain awaited him. Despite this, he felt relief when he stepped into the warm apartment, just glad to be away from all those people and somewhere familiar.

He glanced around the dirty apartment, noticing an absence of a particular redheaded girl.

_'Good,' _thought Shinji as he took off his shoes and moved through the hallway, _'I don't think I could deal with her at the moment.'_

He sighed and moved to his room to deposit his bag. He tiptoed past Asuka's door, being careful not to make even the smallest of noises. He knew that if he did, the lion would spring from her domain and devour him. At the thought of this, Shinji increased his pace, dumping his bag before heading to the kitchen to get dinner started.

Imagine the young boy's surprise when he rounded the corner to find Asuka blocking the hallway. She was wearing baggy board shorts and a red top. Her hands were on her hips and a blank expression was etched on the girl's pretty face, whilst she just stood there, almost like she was staring him down. He reeled backwards, just saving himself from running head first into her, his mind spinning.

_'Oh god she's back to finish the job,'_ he thought with panic, covering his face with his hands, ready for the blows.

When none came, he peeked cautiously through his shield...

* * *

The two teenagers stared at each other for almost a minute.

Shinji was too frightened to move, afraid that he might set the explosive girl off with an almighty boom while Asuka was trying to gain the courage to say what she needed to say to the timid boy.

The girl took a deep breath. She had dreaded this part the most. She never really had to do it before, and it went against everything she stood for as the almighty Asuka. However, she would not back down from a challenge, and if that challenge was apologising to this idiot, then that is what she would do.

A sweat drop formed on her forehead as she finally opened her mouth, a look of concentration spreading across her face.

"Shinji … I …" Asuka stuttered, but with a quick mental slap, she regained her composure.

"Look Third Child, about today, I guess I was a bit out of line with some things … I mean, you totally deserved what you got … and even then, you had no right to say what you said … and …"

Shinji just stood there, his arms lowered now, staring at her dumbly, his mouth half open. '_Is this an apology?'_ the chestnut haired teenager asked himself dubiously. _'She's not very good at it,' __he thought with a smirk. _

Asuka peeked over Shinji's shoulder and noted her poorly concealed guardian eavesdropping in on their private moment. Misato sneaked a glare at Asuka as if to say '_Get on with it!'_

The German girl sighed heavily.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is …" she began, pausing in hesitation. _'Come on just say it!' _she thought angrily to herself, _'You have to do this! Show Misato you're not afraid of this idiot!'_

She opened her mouth again, but was interrupted.

"I'm sorry."

Asuka stared at Shinji in surprise; wasn't she the one who was supposed to be apologising?

"I'm sorry I embarrassed you in front of the class," the shy boy continued, looking down and rubbing his arm, a gloomy look on his face.

"Stop apologising! Let me finish!" Asuka countered with resolve, annoyed once again at his natural reaction to everything.

Shinji looked up, confusion etched on his boyish face. The girl was staring straight into his eyes.

"Let me set the record straight," she continued, pointing a single finger at the boy, "What you said to me was extremely embarrassing, and the only reason I'm saying all this is because I realise now you were just trying to help, even if it was in your own stupid way." Asuka noted that the boy was listening intently to her every word, so she continued, "... but it wasn't your fault I fell over, and I think I hit you harder than I meant to. So ...," she rocked back and forth on her heels, now looking anywhere but at the boy, "I'm sorry, I guess."

Asuka finally glanced at Shinji and noticed that he had a stunned look on his face. The two of them just stood there, staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity, both trying to absorb what had just happened. Misato let out a silent cheer andretreated from her hiding spot quietly, followed closely by Pen Pen, who had also been listening in.

Shinji finally built up enough courage to respond.

"Thank you Asuka," said the boy sincerely, a smile forming on his usually dreary face, "Apology accepted."

Asuka finally seemed to snap out of her trance and gave him a grin"And don't you dare tell anyone I said that, or you're gonna wish you were never born." she said threateningly, punching him on the arm playfully.

'_She's back to her usual self already,'_ the boy thought rubbing his arm, noticing that her tone of voice was light hearted, not angry.

"That was your first time apologising for something wasn't it?" asked the boy with a chuckle. He felt much better now.

"Shut up!" was the reply he received. Asuka couldn't help but grin. _'What was his first clue?' _

Shinji turned to leave, but was grabbed roughly from behind by the collar.

"Where do you think you're going baka? I'm not done yet!" said Asuka irritably, holding him in place.

"Huh?" Shinji muttered, turning around to face the girl. _'Ah here is the pain part,' _he thought with a cringe. Asuka, noticing his reaction, suppressed a giggle. _'He is so whipped,'_ she thought with an inward smile.

Clearing her throat quickly, she explained. "Our wonderful guardian, in all her wisdom, has decided that we should go on a trip together" she said, a twitch beginning to form in her right eye, "To Okinawa ... for 5 days ... alone." She ended, a distasteful look drawn on her features.

Shinji nearly died from blood loss from the nosebleed he received.

"W-w-w-what!" he yelled, his voice laced with horror.

"Yeah, this is the slut's idea to make us get along better," said Asuka venomously, contempt for the purple haired women oozing out of every word.

The teen crossed her arms. "But I suppose we shouldn't waste a perfectly good trip to a 5 star resort," she said, noticing that the boy's cheek was still pink from where the redhead had hit him, "and I think we should try and have a good time. It's not like we'd be doing anything better here anyway," she concluded, eyes roaming around the filthy hallway they currently stood in, complete with dirty clothes, piles of rubbish and what could have once been a Pen Pen's late wife.

Shinji followed her gaze. _'An escape from this dump would be nice.'_ He thenlooked back at his roommate, "Asuka, are you sure you're ok with going to Okinawa with me?" he gulped, "Wouldn't that be perverted or something?"

Asuka looked at him with a pitiful look, "As long as you don't try anything perverted, then there shouldn't be a problem should there?" she replied slyly, waving her hands in front of her explanatorily. Her face suddenly hardened, "Got it?" she asked, her normally beautiful face now covered by a look so evil it would have caused any Angel to instantly run away.

"G-g-g-got it, Asuka!" stammered Shinji noticing this was his cue to make his leave, and he tiptoed around his housemate, heading for his room.

He had just reached the door when he heard a voice behind him.

"Shinji?"

He turned to face his fellow pilot nervously, "Ahh yeah Asuka?"

She walked up to him quickly, and stopped so that she stood about a foot in front of him, before leaning in. Shinji's heart began to pound in his chest as her face edged closer and closer. From here, Shinji was overwhelmed by the sweet smell of the perfume she always wore, and he could truly appreciate how blue her eyes really were. He tried not to look down, gulping as she stopped less than an inch away from him.

"You think what happened in class today was bad?" she whispered, a grin forming on her face, "At least my shirt wasn't inside out all day."

And with that, she flicked Shinji on the forehead, who promptly fell backwards into his room with a heavy thud, his whole head turning bright red when he realised what she was talking about.

Asuka turned around, leaving Shinji withering around on the floor, and skipped merrily back to her room.

'_I guess today wasn't so bad after all.'_

_

* * *

  
_


	3. Chapter 3: The Pool

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

_Ok, first of all an explanation/apology:_  
_I am sorry to everyone who has been hanging out for this chapter (the very few of you that were anyway). I started writing it back in December 2009, and I wrote out the entire thing before sending it off to my pre-reader (DeadlyPole). After reviewing it, I came to the conclusion that it was not up to a decent standard, so I decided to rewrite it again. I think it was about half way through when I kinda ... you know ... totally forgot about it._  
_Jump forward to July 2010, after watching Evangelion 2.0 I got back into the swing of things and remembered some of the awesome fan fics (the few anyway) that were on here. That in turn reminded me that I still had an unfinished chapter to write._  
_In an uncharacteristic swing, I decided to finish it._  
_You see, I hate people who start a story and then never finish it. Annoys the shit out of me. So here I am, determined to finished this motha..._

_Thus, I present you with Chapter 3! Now with Bikini Action™_

_Couple of things before we begin:_

_1) To everyone who voiced their opinion on all the niggly little things in the last two chapters ("Why are they allowed to go on vacation now? What about the Angels? Isn't that why they couldn't go in the first place") the truth is that its not important. The important thing is the story and what happens to the characters. However to everyone who believes I forgot about these things, you are wrong. I did think of them and the plan was to mention it last chapter but it never fit anywhere without disrupting the vibe or feeling out of place. So I thought I would stick it in this chapter ... once again, no easy way to explain it. So here it goes:_

_Presuming the VTOL's in Evangelion (which have two jet engines mind you + future) can fly up to speeds of Mach 2 (generous I know, but bear with me) then they could easily be within Tokyo-3 airspace from Okinawa inside an hour. Section 2 would have definitly sent agents, Aircraft and possibly even a Special Forces team just in case anything went wrong, so they would have standby and staging areas for emergencies etc. Misato would have argued with the higher ups that the benefits from a simple 5 day trip (greater teamwork, pilot's getting along etc) would be greater than the risks. Also keep in mind that SEELE has a rough idea of when these Angels will appear, and that Rei still remains in Tokyo-3. As for timeline, I'm placing it ... just between Israfel (Split-personality angel) and Sandalphon (Lava-crib angel). Roughly, once again, its not really that important._

_2) I will reference things from Evangelion, other anime, movies and especially other FanFics. I've slipped a couple in the previous chapters already. Find them all to win prizes ... or not. :3_

_3) Only half of this has been pre-read (thanks for DeadlyPole, who I'm sure has now forgotten me entirely), so please excuse any grammar, spelling mistakes or poor sentence structure ... you're welcome to point it out of course, which leads me to my final point ..._

_4) Please R&R! I'm one of those people who needs motivation to do stuff sadly, so the more encouragement (and/or criticism) the better._

_Above all else, Enjoy! Hope the wait was worth it._

* * *

It was another beautiful morning in the seaside city of Okinawa, and especially gorgeous at the 5 Star Resort which was located on the beachfront. A cool southerly wind, which raced along the beach, brought with it the taste of the ocean. Seagulls sailed overhead, squawking gently as the swell crashed into the sand countless times, again and again, emitting the constant roar of the sea. The air was clear and fresh, mixed with a tint of salt.

Shinji and Asuka stared at the scenery for a moment longer, their mouths hanging open. The young bell hop removed their bags from the bright yellow taxi behind them with a clatter, and moved on to the concierge, leaving the adolescents to their thoughts.

"It's beautiful," thought Shinji out loud, sounding as though he had drifted off to another world, mesmerised by the sight in front of him.

Asuka turned to look at her roommate, an annoyed look on her face.

"It's just the ocean baka, it's no big deal."

"Maybe for you, but I don't go to the beach very often," replied Shinji, tearing his eyes away from the scenery to look at his fellow Eva pilot.

Asuka just rolled her eyes. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

"Hey Shinji, how about a race?" she enquired slyly.

_We just arrived and already she wants to try and beat me at something? _Shinji asked himself, looking back at his roommate curiously. As much as he knew she loved thrashing him at things to prove her dominance, he sensed an ulterior motive.

"What's the catch?" asked the boy. Asuka just grinned._ So he was quick off the mark eh? We'll see how quick he really is_.

"Loser buys dinner tonight," she replied, removing the hair in front of her face with a quick flick of her hand.

"And since I'm obviously better than you at pretty much everything, that loser, would be you," she added, and Shinji felt what was left of his confidence grind to life.

"You're on," he said, brow furrowing, self-assurance lacing his voice. Asuka was surprised by his resolve.

'_Since when was Shinji confident about anything?'_ she askedherself, before her own ego kicked into gear, '_I'll teach him to think he can beat me.'_

"First one to reception wins," she declared, and Shinji nodded in acknowledgement.

They both readied themselves. "On the count of three, ok?"

Shinji nodded again, however he already suspected that she may try to trick him. Asuka was the kind of girl who did not take kindly to losing, and would do anything to win, even cheat.

"One ..." she began, stealing a glance at her roommate.

"Two ..."

Shinji readied himself, concentrating on Asuka's form, ready to leap forward if she decided to get a head start.

"THREE!"

Suddenly Shinji was knocked sideways as Asuka shoulder barged him, and he tumbled to the ground heavily.

Before he could even comprehend what had happened, the fiery redhead had sprinted off, leaving Shinji in the dust.

Shinji cursed to himself as he hurried to his feet. He realised this was twice now she had acted as he thought she would and Shinji smiled inside as he realised he knew Asuka better than even he had realised, however remembering his current situation, not to mention the state his wallet would be in if he lost, this seemed like a small comfort.

In the distance he could hear female laughter, and he cursed the fiery redheaded devil for her foul play. He had to catch up to her.

As he got up however, his legs became tangled and he stumbled, doing a little hop step number before falling over again, this time into a person standing nearby.

He was getting angry now, and he cursed himself internally for his intermittent clumsiness, before lifting himself to his feet, being careful not to trip again.

A wave of defeat washed over him as he realised he would never be able to gain lost ground. He apologised quickly to the bystander, not even looking at them before continuing quickly along the path where he had last seen Asuka disappear.

By the time he finally reached reception, Asuka was already leaning on the marble-stone counter, tapping her finger repeatedly against the smooth surface.

"Jeez, I know you're slow but that's just pathetic," the young girl teased as Shinji wandered over, before punching him on the arm.

Wincing in pain, the boy noticed that his roommate seemed to be in a happy mood; happier than usual anyway. Her spirit seemed to be contagious, as it had been on previous occasions and uncharacteristically, the sting from his loss and the insult melted away.

"That didn't count, you cheated," said Shinji, rubbing his arm, surprised by his sudden mood swing.

"All's fair in love and war baka. I can't wait for dinner tonight," replied Asuka with a grin, signing the paperwork the young receptionist had just placed in front of her.

The young girl behind the counter looked at the odd pair and suppressed a giggle.

"Are you two together?" she enquired in a sweet voice, the light which washed through the foyer's giant doors glinting off the small pair of pink framed reading glasses perched precariously on her nose.

Asuka stared at the women for a moment, sporting a look suggesting she had been slapped across the face by a lumberjack.

"WHAT! No way! I would _never_ be with that loser! Not in a million years!" she yelled, waving an arm at the boy as she did so.

The receptionist actually giggled this time, a hand covering her mouth as she noticed Shinji's annoyed look, before she corrected herself.

"I meant for the booking. You two are staying in the same room, right?"

It took almost half a second for Asuka's face to turn the colour of a ripe beetroot, and even less for Shinji to burst out laughing, holding his sides as tears threatened to form.

"SHUT UP DUMMKOPF!" she screamed, smacking him across the back of the head, silencing him immediately.

* * *

A discomforting quietness floated through the elevator as Shinji and Asuka waited for their floor.

Shinji noted that elevators, especially those containing a particular fiery redhead, were naturally awkward places. However the uncomfortableness inside this particular elevator had reached new heights. He attributed it to the receptionist incident and Asuka's annoyance, which seemed so intense, he swear he could feel it radiating from her body.

Shinji could feel it suffocating him more and more each passing second, and he shuffled his feet noisily.

Beside the boy, Asuka's glare of disapproval swivelled towards him. The two of them normally got on relatively well; watching TV every other night, trying to decide what Shinji should make for dinner, or even occasionally going shopping, but for some reason, being in this confined space together was just ... odd. He tried to think about something else instead.

His mind settled to a particularly beautiful morning a few days earlier.

On this day, not a single cloud could be seen in the sky and all seemed right with the world. Shinji almost smiled as he remembered the look on his fellow student's faces as he was dragged into school by a content Asuka. Both of the pilots had been bombarded with Instant Messages from the moment they sat down, probing and nagging as to the reason they both seemed so happy, despite the incident the day before.

Asuka loved the extra attention and bathed in it like a celebrity. Shinji had smirked at the thought of bursting her inflated bubble by telling them all what had really happened, but remembering the threat on his life, he kept his mouth shut, choosing to stare out the window instead.

Lunchtime soon rolled around and he was promptly assaulted by his fellow stooges, whom had demanded an immediate explanation as to why he wasn't in several bloody pieces scattered all over Tokyo-3's garbage disposal system. Scratching the back of his head, Shinji had promptly shrugged it off, before timidly explaining that he would be gone for the rest of the week on top secret NERV business.

Touji and Kensuke had looked at each other with dubious looks, before returning to their usual mealtime banter. If they suspected something was off, they were keeping it to themselves.

Hikari on the other hand had accepted Asuka's explanation without hesitation.

After all, what else could they possibly be doing?

The young boy was snapped out of his stupor by the soft _ding_ of the elevator signalling their arrival, and the two teens hurried out of the confined space, proceeding down the hall to their room. The hotel had the same template as similar 5 star establishments; soft maroon carpeting, cream coloured walls coupled with low warm lighting and adorned with large colourful paintings, probably Van Gogh or Rembrandt, which covered the walls every couple of feet. It even had that familiar yet distant hotel scent of bath soaps and ginseng.

Their room turned out to be just as lavish as the rest of the building; complete with an enormous plasma TV opposite the couch, along with a fully stocked mini-bar. Their bags had already been brought up to their room, presumably by the bellhop from earlier.

"Sooooo, what do we do now?" enquired Asuka, much of her anger melting away after seeing their magnificent room. Walking over to the balcony window, she noticed that the view was equally stunning from up here, if not more so.

"Err, I'm not sure," Shinji hesitated, "What do you want to do?"

Still facing away from him, the girl sighed, "Well, I want to work on my tan. How about the pool to start off with?" she turned to face her roommate, "then move on to lunch or whatever. Sound good?"

In actuality, this idea did not sound good to Shinji at all. He had very good reasons for not wanting to go to the pool, however, he did not feel like being ridiculed right now; his good mood threatening to come crashing down around his ears. So despite this, he nodded anyway; it was a weak nod, but a nod nonetheless.

"Right then, I'm going to go change," declared Asuka, walking over and picking up her oversized suitcase, before wheeling it down the hall, leaving Shinji to himself.

He noted that she had seemed to recover somewhat from the reception incident earlier, but he reminded himself that the redhead did not forget things easily. He put down a mental note not to mention it again if he could help it. He wanted to keep the good vibes going as long as he could; as far as Shinji was concerned, he was going to try and enjoy his holiday, even if it killed him.

He could hear Asuka tearing apart her suitcase in a room down the hall, and the boy decided he should get ready as well. Reluctantly, he grabbed his bag and headed to his own room.

Unlike his female counterpart, Shinji had not packed much, knowing that it would be a pain in the ass having to carry around so much weight. Regardless, he was still forced to drag both of their bags through the airport terminal, and he could feel every high heel, swimsuit and sundress as a painful ache in his lower back.

Unzipping his bag, he began to shuffle through his belongings, looking for swimming trunks and a towel. He changed quickly and grabbed his wallet and room key, before heading back out the door.

As he walked, the urge of nature came knocking on his bladder, so he altered his course, and headed for the other room off to the right.

If Shinji had known that Asuka had needed to use a mirror, and as such, had moved to the bathroom to get changed, he most definitely would have turned around, ignoring his urge to pee, and headed back to his room. Sadly, as already proven, the boy did not have an inkling of psychic powers, and he opened the door to be greeted by an amazing sight.

Shinji stumbled back, trying not to look, clutching the doorframe for support, digging his nails into the soft wood. Asuka turned, her face draining to an amazing shade of red, and let out a scream as she quickly covered up her exposed body.

"AHHH! YOU PERVERT!"

Shinji knew he had only a split second before the onslaught began, but nothing could truly prepare him for Asuka's foot connecting with his gut at the speed of light.

_WHACK!_

He was out in the hall again, clutching his stomach as he gasped for air like a fish pulled suddenly from a fish tank.

Screaming a slur of German insults, including several that sounded particularly vulgar, Asuka slammed the door in his face, leaving the boy to lie silently in the hallway.

"So much for good vibes," he mumbled to himself, before slowly getting to his feet, a gentle sense of déjà vu washing over him.

Rubbing his stomach gingerly, Shinji entered the lift of awkwardness once more, accompanied by a disgruntled Asuka. He pushed the button for the lobby and the doors closed with a rattle, followed by the sweet jingle of elevator music and the hum of the air conditioning.

Due to the bathroom incident, the uneasiness inside the elevator was at a new high.

Shinji had to say something; he knew he would not feel right until he did, so the teen slowly opened his mouth and prepared to speak.

"What?" interjected Asuka before he had a chance to say anything.

The boy was put off for a moment.

"Err ... sorry about earlier," he said, trying hard not to sound weak, but failing miserably.

"I knew you would say that!" she snapped, the fact he had faltered annoying her even more, and she crossed her arms over her breasts, "Would you stop apologising for five fucking seconds? Besides, it doesn't matter."

"I didn't mean to I just ... needed to use the bathroom," the boy finished, those last words spoken almost as if he was talking to himself, and his eyes turned to the floor.

"Let's just pretend it never happened," she said with a sigh, "and try and have some fun."

Shinji looked over at his roommate in surprise, heart lifting slightly at her surprisingly forgiving words, before he was startled by the elevator's _ding_ as the doors slid open.

They both hurried out, glad to escape the confined space, before making their way out the lobby doors.

The two teens reached the pool fairly quickly, and any tension either of the two felt faded almost instantly. The entire area was built on a cliff edge, and it looked out over the water giving a magnificent view of the beach and the seemingly never ending ocean. Holiday goers frolicked about the pool, tanning and swimming, filling the air with sounds of children's laughter, bad anecdotes and the stern cautioning of parents as their offspring attempted various dangerous acts. White plastic deck chairs sat along the sides of the pool, and over by the opposite entrance sat a classic Bamboo hut with the rather simple words _POOL BAR _splayed across the top in bright neon letters.

As Asuka found two empty deck chairs, she noted the cheesiness of the bar. Nearby, Shinji stood and watched the rippling water with apprehension.

"Err, I'm not the biggest fan of swimming, so I might sit this one ou-" the boy began, before his mind went blank as he spotted his roommate removing the board shorts and yellow top which covered her red bikini.

Blushing furiously at her lack of clothing, despite the fact he had glimpsed just a bit more earlier, he couldn't help but admire the curves that ran down her body and her silky smooth skin.

'_She may have a wicked tongue,' _he thought as he watched the redhead throw her towel over a chair, _'but the guys at school aren't wrong ...'_

"Did you say something?" she asked, turning to face Shinji at the same time causing him to jump, not realising he had been staring; at her ass no less.

Strangely, she hadn't seemed to have noticed.

"Nope," croaked Shinji, before removing his shirt.

"Hey!" Asuka said suddenly, as if she had just thought of something, "Come over here a sec, would ya?"

She flashed the boy a rare smile, and he felt his heart jump.

"Come on!" she beckoned, and Shinji reluctantly waddled over to Asuka, aware that his board shorts were becoming slightly too tight.

The redhead suddenly grinned maniacally, and in a flash, before the boy could react, she shoved him into the pool.

The last thing Shinji glimpsed as he fell was the twinkle of triumph in Asuka's eyes, before he hit the water heavily and was engulfed in silence. He floated in the aqua abyss for a moment, the coldness of the water biting his skin cruelly before he slowly opened his eyes. Shinji had never been fully submerged in water before, and he looked around in amazement, before a sudden realisation snapped him back into reality.

He couldn't swim.

The boy began to panic. '_Oh shit! I'm going to die!' _his mind screamed, terror flowing through him when he realised he was quickly running out of breath.

All of a sudden, he felt himself being dragged upwards through the water, and to his astonishment, he surfaced.

Sound returned to the world with the muffled trickle of water, and the ambience of the poolside flooded his ears; however these ordinary noises now sounded like the most beautiful symphony in the world. Better than anything on his S-DAT anyway.

He choked on water as he struggled to stay afloat, before looking up at his saviour.

Asuka was standing over him, one hand under his arm and a grin plastered on her smug face.

Shinji suddenly realised something; she was ... _standing_ ... over him.

The redhead burst into laughter as Shinji stood up, now fully aware the water was only waist high before giving the pleased looking redhead a scowl.

'_How on Earth did I not realise it was that shallow?'_ he screamed at himself as colour began to fill his face.

"Godamnit Asuka!" he said between coughs, running a hand through his moist hair, before beating the water with a fist, "I could have died! You knew I couldn't swim!"

"Payback for earlier," she responded after she had finally stopped laughing, "you didn't think I was going to let you get away with seeing me get changed, did you? Not to mention you were practically drooling over me a second ago."

Shinji remembered the kick he had received and wondered how hehad_ 'gotten away with it_,' blushing at the same time realising she had noticed him staring after all.

"Besides," she continued, a smile still drawn on her features, "It's only like a foot deep dummkopf!"

Shinji looked down at the water and let out a sigh before he began to wade over to the side of the pool, _'So much for having fun ...' _

"You're so pathetic sometimes," said Asuka looking down at the boy, a hint of compassion sneaking into her voice.

In the redhead's mind, thoughts raced through faster than trains in a Tokyo Railway station.

'_Why does he have to look so depressed all the time?'_ she wondered as her eyes followed the boy, _'I suppose I could help him out this one time. After all, Misato made me promise to be nice to him.' _Memories returned of her guardian pulling Asuka aside roughly just before they had left for the airport. The older woman had proceeded to point out that if Shinji didn't have a good time, unspeakably horrible things would await the redhead on their return.

Asuka's eye twitched uncomfortably, but nevertheless, she put her hands on her hips defiantly. Another challenge; if she couldn't do this, nobody could.

"Come here!" the redhead ordered, grabbing the boy by the wrist and dragging him from the pool.

Shinji did not resist; he didn't feel like dying so early in his holiday.

She pulled him to the edge of the deep end and turned to face the young man, her long auburn hair whipping across her face elegantly.

"Ok," she began, crossing her arms, "We'll start with the basics."

Shinji just stared at his fellow teen; a confused look etched onto his visage.

"Err, sorry Asuka, what exactly are we doing?" he probed, becoming more and more anxious by the moment.

The girl gave him a petulant look, "Teaching you to swim of course!"

To say Shinji was hesitant at this idea would be a bit of an understatement.

'_Is she serious?'_ he contemplated to himself for a moment, _'What am I saying? Of course she's serious ...'_

"Okay," Asuka continued, not giving the boy a chance to protest, seemingly undeterred by the look now plastered on Shinji's face, "Get in the water."

He was not exactly a picture of confidence, and he looked at the water nervously. He was pretty adamant about not going in there again, but his roommate's voice cut into his thoughts like a chainsaw.

"Do it, or I'll push you in."

Looking back at her scowl, Shinji knew she wasn't joking and he sighed in resignation. Edging over to the side of the pool, he slipped in slowly, feeling the cold clawing at his legs. Holding onto the edge rather tightly, he looked up at his teacher expectantly.

"Now what?" he enquired, an instant before the sun's rays were blocked out momentarily by the figure of Asuka diving bombing into the pool next to him. It was a very good bomb, and a large wave washed through the pool as the girl surfaced, brushing wet hair from her face.

"God that feels good!" she exclaimed, bobbing gently, "So much better than being cooped up in the shithole Misato calls a flat!"

"Aren't you supposed to be teaching me, not showing off!" Shinji said, becoming irritated.

Asuka's expression suddenly changed to one of determination in an instant, almost like flicking a light switch.

"Right!"

* * *

For the next hour, Asuka, showing patience she rarely does, proceeded to instruct her student.

They started off with learning to doggy paddle. Needless to say, Shinji almost drowned the first couple of times, but after awhile, he got the hang of it. They then moved on to breast stroke, and within an hour, Shinji was paddling around in circles like a maniac.

He couldn't believe it. He had never given a thought about learning how to swim, but he was amazed at how fun it was. He looked up at his teacher standing by the pool and he smiled. _I guess she's not such a heartless bitch after all._

"Good," she said eyeing his poor stroke technique and flailing arms, "you still look like a retard, but at least you won't die now. We can't have an Eva pilot who can be defeated by a pool can we? That's just pathetic."

As Shinji nodded, Asuka felt a faint sense of pride inside. _Hell, if I can teach this baka to swim, I can do anything._

Shinji looked up at Asuka and smiled again, truly grateful of her kindness, and as Asuka looked at him, she couldn't help smile back at his dorky grin.

'_What an idiot. So happy at doing something so simple, but this is a nice change from the emo Shinji, and besides, he's kinda cute when he smiles..._' It took a moment for Asuka to realise what she had thought, before she began to curse her own brain for its unimaginable carelessness. '_What! Don't think things like that. He's an idiot and pervert, definitely not cute_.'

"Wipe that stupid grin off your face!" she yelled at the boy, comforting herself somewhat and started to head off to the bar, "You want a drink or what?"

"Err sure! I'm going to keep practising," her roommate replied, before doing an uncoordinated swan dive.

Asuka just stared at the spot he had disappeared and shook her head.

She went and sat down on the bench beneath the neon sign and signalled the bartender for two drinks. As she waited, her thoughts returned to her fellow EVA pilot.

'_God he must be turning me soft, making me think things like that,_' she thought as she eyed him with contempt from afar as he splashed around in the pool, '_must be this whole trip thing.'_

Asuka sighed as she remembered that she would be spending the next 5 days with that idiot. _'Well at least Misato won't pull my head off like an angry praying mantis now,' _she thought, remembering her guardian's threat, comforted by the fact she had made a conscious effort at least.

'_I can't let him get to me like this,' _she added to herself, _'Time to cut off the nice act.'_

Reassured by this thought, she tried to think of something else, however no matter what she contemplated, her thoughts drifted curiously back to the boy.

Asuka and Shinji had always had a weird relationship. They were essentially opposites by nature; Asuka was harsh, extrovert, straight to the point, dominant and above all else, arrogant. This contrasted completely with Shinji's nervousness, courtesy, light heartedness and withdrawn personality. Black and White. Asuka was the Yin to Shinji's Yang. Their interactions often brought great amusement to anyone who witnessed them and they often wondered how two completely different people could even be friends, much less fellow EVA pilots.

Truth was, they got on rather well, save from the frequent fights over Shinji's "stupid" Japanese cooking, lack of "stupid" cooking, or anything particularly "stupid" that happened to set Asuka off. They frequently spent time together; eating, watching TV or even the odd occasion out and about, shopping or the like, where Asuka would use Shinji as her own private mule, dragging him from store to store.

Under the layers of hate, abuse, ridicule, and teenage torment, they had a connection to each other. It was forged from the fiery conditions of Misato's tiny flat, and not to mention the extreme burden of protecting humanity from extinction. Although neither of them even knew it was there, or dare acknowledge it if they did (albeit for different reasons), they both felt a strange sense of comfort being together on those cold nights curled up on the couch, in the stifling confines of various clothing stores, or even just walking to school.

Asuka was deep in thought when she was suddenly bumped from behind, almost falling off the stool.

Confusion turned to anger in a second, and she whipped around, ready to unleash a fury of insults on the inconsiderate person who had dared to touch her.

It was a boy around her age and it seemed that he had bumped into the redhead as he tried to navigate his way past with 5 drinks on a tray, obviously struggling to balance all the glasses.

"Hey watch it!" yelled Asuka.

"Err, sorry, "the spiky haired youth responded, turning to look at her slowly, still concentrating on the task at hand, before he finally acknowledged who it was he was speaking to.

His attitude changed instantly as he looked her up and down. His eyes lit up in a second.

"Why hello there," he said smoothly, trying to act as cool as possible to the sexy red head, the act of juggling a plate of drinks hindering him somewhat.

The fire burning inside Asuka abruptly burst into an inferno and she suddenly towered over the boy, who had seemed to realise that this was not a girl susceptible to what little charms he possessed.

"Keep walking lover boy, or you'll find yourself with a face full of glass," She said through gritted teeth, her hands clenching into fists.

The boy nodded in acknowledgement, and was about to move on quietly when there was a shout from the other side of the bar. Both of the teens turned to watch another group of kids their age wave to the spiky haired boy and begin to walk towards them.

"Hey Anno! Hurry up with those drinks eh!" one of them shouted, and Asuka swore under her breath. _'Oh great! More of them._ _And just when I thought I had gotten rid of this idiot_.'

They stopped in front of the pair, the various members of the group taking their drinks off the young boy before looked at Asuka curiously. A girl in front spoke up and Asuka recognised her voice as the one who had called out.

"Woah Anno, who's this? You trying to pick up again?" she said mockingly, before turning to face Asuka, "Please excuse our friend, he'd try and pick up his own grandmother if he had the chance."

"Haha yeah ..." the boy responded, blushing furiously as the group laughed, and Asuka let off a small smile, but only to acknowledge her attempt at humour.

The group continued to stare at Asuka inquisitively, before the girl spoke again.

"I didn't see any other schools here, which means you must be here on vacation. You come with anyone?"

"Err yeah, just a friend," she responded with distaste, annoyed by the girls questioning nature, before remembering Shinji and his antics in the pool. Even though she didn't know or care about these people, if there was one thing Asuka prided herself in more than being an EVA pilot, it was her image. She needed everyone to know that she was amazing, king of world, and should not be crossed under any circumstances. Having a wimpy, stupid idiot for a friend didn't help that image.

"Ah cool? Where are they?" the girl asked curiously, and Asuka let off a small glare.

'_Bitch is a little pushy isn't she?'_

"Oh he's around here somewhere," Asuka said, glancing in the direction of the pool to make sure her roommate was nowhere in sight, "Look I'm in a bit of a rush, so ..."

"Hey Asuka. What's going on?"

Asuka rotated slowly around to face Shinji as he addressed her from behind. Her face began to turn a strange shade of red as her fists became clenched. Daggers pierced the boy, but he was too focused on the group to notice immediately.

"I thought you were swimming," she enquired through gritted teeth.

Finally noticing her annoyed state, Shinji withdrew a little.

"Err, I can't drink in the pool can I?" he replied timidly.

"Oh so this must be the friend," said the girl from the group, before looking back at the redhead "And your name is Asuka? Such a pretty name! I'm Yoko."

The girl held out her hand, and Asuka looked at it distastefully.

'_Fucking Shinji, I swear I am going to kill him.'_

Giving Shinji one more evil glare, revelling in his habitual cringe, she took the girls hand, shaking it firmly. She was then introduced to all the other members of the group, one by one.

Asuka just nodded at each one of teens as their names were called, but she didn't bother remembering any of them. As much as the girl loved attention, sometimes it could be downright annoying. Sometimes she wished she could just turn invisible, or float away, so she wouldn't have to put up with everyone jostling for her admiration.

As she expected, she was immediately swamped with questions from the other teens; their attention focused so tightly on the girl that she realised there was no possible way to escape. Asuka signed as she realised the only way out of this was to sit and handle their interrogation (for lack of a better word), hoping that they would soon run out of questions and she could eventually slip by.

A few feet away, Shinji was watching the spectacle, somewhat amused by the situation. He had noted in the past that Asuka always seemed to have a band of people chasing after her, and that she was easily the most popular person in school, and therefore assumed she would be used to the attention. However she seemed positively livid underneath her cool exterior.

'_Probably didn't want to have to put up with this on her holiday,' _thought Shinji, sympathizing with the girl for a moment.

As usual, the group ignored him, choosing to instead focus their attention on the redhead, and Shinji felt slightly uncertain as to what he should be doing, so he decided to turn around and head back to the pool. Suddenly someone spoke behind him.

"Pretty silly isn't it?"

Shinji was confused for a moment; it sounded like that voice was directed at him. Looking around quickly, he realised it was a girl from the group, and she _was_ addressing him.

"Huh?"Shinji replied lamely, unsure what she meant and shocked that a stranger would talk to him.

"Err, I meant the fact they all act like that, jostling for attention from the popular girl. Not saying your friend is silly or anything like that!" the girl spoke quickly; frightened she had inadvertently insulted the boy, before she looked at her feet uncomfortably.

"Oh, yeah ... I suppose it is a bit," Shinji replied with an awkward grin, not quite sure what to make of the girl in front of him.

She was wearing a white dress, which seemed to almost glow in the light from the sun. The soft brown hair which flowed down around the sides of her face swayed back and forth gently in the calm wind, her sparkling green eyes turning to look up at Shinji in pleasant surprise at his response.

"Yeah," she repeated, unsure about how to continue the conversation now she had started it.

Shinji analysed the girl. She seemed unsure of herself and timid. He also noted that she must have summoned up a fair amount of courage to talk to him. He could almost see himself reflected in her large emerald eyes.

"So, you're with her huh?" the girl asked, pointing to the mass of people, behind which Asuka was struggling to answer all the questions being thrown at her.

Shinji's face turned red, looking away uncomfortably as the girl realised her mistake.

"Err, I didn't mean like ... with, with ... I meant like ... I'm going to stop talking now," she concluded, before returning her eyes to the ground, feeling stupid.

Shinji looked at her curiously before chuckling a little, "Yeah, we're together."

The girl looked up shocked, and Shinji, realising his own mistake, corrected himself, shaking his hands in front of him feverishly, "I meant on vacation, not like together or anything."

They just stared at each other for a moment, before they both laughed nervously. The amusement of their situation helped break the awkwardness between them, and the girl looked at him curiously once more, before her eyes widened suddenly.

"Wait a minute, I know you!" she suddenly said, pointing a finger at him. Shinji took a step back in defence.

"Y-you d-do?" he asked.

"Yeah, you ran into me this morning!" she said, before laughing quickly, "You hurried off pretty quick, I barely managed to get a look at you."

Shinji suddenly remembered the race and how he had fallen into someone after Asuka pushed him over.

"Oh sorry about that!" he said, rubbing the back of his head, "I was chasing Asuka and, well ... I guess I just tripped on my own feet."

Thoughts returned to his roommates blatant cheating and he reminded himself to get her back sometime.

"Oh my, where are my manners?" she suddenly asked the boy, a slightly shocked look written on her features "I'm Ada."

She held out her hand, and Shinji took it. "I'm Shinji, nice to meet you Ada."

She giggled a little at his formality, but gave him a smile.

"So you're on vacation huh?," looking again at the mass of people nearby, who were now enthralled in Asuka's explanation of why German food was better than Japanese, "and you came with her?"

"Yep," replied Shinji simply, not sure what else to say.

Ada looked at him quizzically. "You're really friends?"

"Yeah, weird huh?" said Shinji, laughing as he scratched his arm.

"I would never have guessed," responded Ada, admiring his openness and honesty.

Nearby, Asuka was still being cross-examined. Looking around for an escape, she suddenly noticed Shinji and another girl conversing.

'_Huh? Shinji, talking to a stranger. A girl no less?'_ Asuka thought, the voices around her fading as she tried to comprehend the scene in front of her.

'_Since when did Shinji have the courage to talk to someone?' _She contemplated this. '_Oh right, never ... but that means she must have talked to him ... what a slut, throwing herself on him like that.'_

Asuka debated with herself for a moment, before getting up off the stool determinedly and pushing past the teens.

"Hey Shinji, what's going on?" she asked loudly, putting an arm on his shoulder and leaning on him, "Who's your friend?"

Shocked by her sudden appearance, Shinji jumped slightly, before turning a bright shade of red.

"Oh err, t-this is Ada," he stuttered, and the redhead turned her attention to the girl.

"Hi, n-nice to meet you," Ada said, her eyes travelling to the ground instinctively. It was then a sense of déjà vu washed over Asuka.

'_Well I can see why they're getting along, they're exactly alike,' _thought the redhead with disgust as she eyed the two teens, now in identical poses on either side of her.

Suddenly there was a yell behind them, and the group began to disperse. A teacher was waving to them.

"Oh, I gotta go!" cried Ada, "Hope to see you around!" she said to the male EVA pilot, giving him a quick smile. "Cya Shinji!" she yelled, before moving off to join her friends.

Shinji watched her go in silence, his mood lightened considerably. She was a nice girl, and better yet, she even remembered his name. She was pretty no doubt, but Shinji wasn't concerned about that. To be totally honest, he was just happy to have made a new friend.

Turning to Asuka, he noticed that she had turned away, her fists clenched.

"Hey Asuka, are you ok?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

She didn't respond, and Shinji put his hand on her shoulder, "Asuka?"

"Just fuck off and leave me alone!" she screamed, slapping his hand away before she ran off, leaving a dumbstruck Shinji standing by the pool. His hands sagged by his sides and his gaze drifted slowly downward.

"What did I do now?" he said aloud to nobody in particular, hoping someone would answer him. When nobody did, he sighed and moved off to find his roommate.

* * *

After looking for a good 20 minutes, Shinji finally found the redhead sitting on a bench by the tennis courts, a fair way from the pools. He approached slowly, two drinks in hand, not wanting to upset her further by his "clumsiness" as she called it.

From behind he noticed that the teenager had her head down, and that the sun's rays were causing her partially wet skin to glimmer. Her fiery red hair had dried somewhat, probably from sitting out here in the sun for so long.

He came to a stop next to her, before reluctantly sitting down beside the girl. She continued to look at the ground, and Shinji felt his sense of uneasiness rising. He needed to say something.

"Asuka I-"

"Don't apologise."

Shinji went quiet at this. Of course he was going to apologise. What else could he do? He wished she would cut him some slack though, he had gotten up the courage to come find her after all.

He willed his confidence to charge, and he released what little had formed.

"I-I'm not going to apologise ... I just wanted to find out if you're ok."

"If I'm ok...?" Asuka repeated, her head still hung. In actuality, she didn't know herself.

'_Why on Earth am I wound so tightly? What the fuck is wrong with me today!' _she screamed at her mind, willing it to react. No response came. She didn't know how to answer the boy, so she reverted to her usual retort.

"What do you care anyway?" she began, finally looking up at the boy menacingly, "You're just a s-"

She stopped when she noticed the boy was partially cowering behind the two drinks he was holding. She looked at the glasses questioningly.

"Err, you went for drinks earlier ... and since you didn't get any, I thought I would get them for you," he explained, fishing for some hint of understanding.

His roommate stared at him for a moment, grunting slightly before swiping one of the drinks away.

Shinji calmed down a little. In Asuka's current state, he understood that a grunt was just as good as any thank you.

They sat in silence for a while, just sipping their drinks, watching the tennis players whack balls back and forth repeatedly, content with just relaxing for the moment. The Sun was shining brightly above them; the sky surrounding it dotted every now and then by a small puffy cloud that drifted across the blue abyss, warping and changing as it travelled slowly to nowhere in particular. Inside both of the teen's minds however, there was a storm raging. Thoughts were racing back and forth at a million miles an hour, both of them trying to comprehend what they were feeling. Neither wanted to speak up and initiate the conversation again.

Eventually Asuka grew tired of waiting for Shinji.

"You we're saying something Third Child?"

Shinji looked at her again, noticing that she was giving him a chance to make it up to her. He knew she didn't want to hear an apology, but what else could he give?

He sighed, "Look, I'm sorry for whatever I did, I honestly didn't know wh-"

"Why do you always fucking apologise? Can't you just own up to your mistakes like a normal human being?" she interrupted him, anger spreading across her face.

Shinji's heart began to race. "But I don't know what I did Asuka! Can't you tell me what it was?"

Asuka looked away at this, confusion spilling through her. The redhead refused to admit it... refused to admit she didn't know herself.

"Figure it out yourself!"she yelled.

'_Why the fuck is he getting to me so much? Who cares about that group of idiots drooling over me? Who cares if some girl talked to him? Who cares if he came here with me, and not her? Who cares if I put all that effort into helping him learn to be less of an idiot, only to have him fuck off with that stupid Ada girl.'_

In a weird way, and although she could not comprehend why, she felt betrayed by the boy. She had been kind, for his (and Misato's) sake, and how does he repay her? He goes off getting all flirty with some slut.

'_Well he's not getting off the hook easy this time.'_

On the other side of the bench, Shinji just stared at her in frustration. _'What do I do? She won't give me an inch, and I'm just supposed to magically figure it out?'_ He sighed again in frustration. This girl was so much trouble ... but he always came back to her. He didn't know why. Maybe it was because he found a strange sense of comfort in her presence, even at times like this, fighting on a bench in Okinawa ... underneath all the trouble she caused him... he felt ... happy? Shinji's thoughts returned to her kindness earlier in the pool, and he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Thanks for teaching me to swim Asuka."

Asuka raised her head in surprise at his confession. It was then she felt some of the anger slowly begin to drain away. Looking into his eyes, she could tell he was telling the truth. She thought it typical of that idiot to just say what he was thinking, but his gratitude warmed Asuka's cold heart just the tiniest bit, igniting the fire which usually roared inside the girl. Her mood began to lift instantly.

She had no idea how this little boy's words could affect her like this, but she decided the best thing to do was to push it away into the back of her mind, and forget about it for now.

"You're welcome," she replied smugly, regaining her previous composure by sitting up straight and crossing her arms, "it's not every day you get taught something by the great Asuka Langley Sohryu." She grinned at this point, "You should be more appreciative."

With that she flicked him on the forehead, and Shinji felt his mood increase, mirroring Asuka.

"But don't think you're getting away with what you did," the girl added, waggling a finger at him, "You still owe me for being an idiot in front of everyone and humiliating me."

Shinji didn't really believe that the reason she was so angry a minute ago was because she was embarrassed of him, but he let it go for the time being. He didn't want to ruin her good mood with more questioning.

"What did you have in mind?" enquired Shinji.

"You can buy me lunch."

"What? I thought I had to pay for dinner thanks to your cheating, not lunch?"

Asuka gave him an astonished look.

"You don't remember? Pathetic really. You asked to have lunch with me at school the other day remember? Since we never did, I suppose now couldn't be a better time."

Shinji looked at her dumbfounded, but then he smiled. _'She never misses anything does she?'_ he thought to himself with a smile.

"Alright Asuka, you win," he replied, giving in to the redhead's demands, "I'll pay for lunch too."

"And so you should," she said smugly, "You know you should be glad I let you have lunch with me. It's a privilege, not a right."

She stared at him a moment longer before she realised he was smiling again, "And wipe that stupid grin off your face. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Shinji tried not to smirk, but it only made it worse.

"I said stop it!"

She slapped him across the face, and he burst out laughing.

"What's so fucking funny baka!"

" I don't know," he replied out of breath as he began to calm down, "just something about being told not to smile makes you do it more," he said, grinning again.

"God you're weird," teased Asuka, but truth be told, it was rubbing off on her, and she couldn't help but smile as well. Realising she probably had a dorky grin on her face, she forced it off immediately.

"Come on, let's go!" she yelled impatiently. Grabbing her roommate by the arm, she pulled him towards the nearest restaurant, trailing a helpless Shinji along behind her.

Shinji felt like their relationship was improving, but then again, he reminded himself this was how it always was.

His thoughts returned to the girl he had met by the pool, and remembered her kindness; how she had treated him with respect. For a moment he wished that Asuka would be like her once in a while, before he shook that thought away. If she did that, she wouldn't be Asuka. He appreciated that it was just the way she was. After all, he enjoyed his roommates company, but only when she wasn't being an utter bitch.

He pushed it all out of his mind, remembering his desire to try and have a good time, no matter what.

'_I'm sure things will get better_,'he thought to himself in a burst of optimism, before following an irate Asuka into the restaurant, reaching for his pocket.

'_Can't say the same for my wallet though ...'_

_

* * *

_

**END NOTES:**

I know what you're thinking, but this is not going to follow the typical Shinji x Asuka fanfic story arc. So sick of the usual: Shinji + Asuka + other love interest = turmoil = change = love/sex/BDSM. Not going down that route. Promise ... I swear *cough* :D

I think its pretty clear I had a lack of creativity when it came to names ... I'm sure you can tell. Please excuse me on that.

Hope you all enjoyed it. Please Rate and Review, or I'll kill your family ... ok I take that back, but I will threaten your neighbour.


	4. Chapter 4: The Match & Dinner

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

_I'mmmm baaaacccckkkk!_

_Bet you thought I was dead huh? Nope! Still alive and kicking._

_First and foremost, I would like to offer an apology to those who have been looking forward to this chapter for awhile now: Once again, I wish I could have finished this sooner. For a long time, 85% of it had been sitting here on my computer, ready to be finished and published, but due to a number of circumstances ... it wasn't._

_Once again, I hate people who don't finish their stories, and I try not to be one of them, but you know ... sometimes I can't help it. The reason I've finally picked it up after so long is due to the constant notifications of faves and all that I get from Fanfiction via Email ... after awhile they become hard to ignore._

_So **THANK YOU **to those who have Favorited me or my story; your hard work in pushing that little button has done something after all :P_

_A FEW NOTES ON THE STORY:_

_No pre-reader this time. I KNOW for a fact there are most likely glaring errors and mistakes throughout, however I'm gonna try and get the GF to review future work (Yes future work) so its not as terrible. In the meantime, feel free to point any out, and I will endeavor to fix them, which leads me to my next point:_

_R&R people! Something I like seeing even more than a fave notification? A review notification! :P Keep em coming, and I assure you I read them all. Any suggestions, notes or criticisms will be duly noted. _

_The story is still in the build up phase at the moment: Story arcs and plot developments will occur in the future. This chapter is primarily building a foundation in which characters can grow and ... well, develop. _

_On a final note: I will try and continue the story. I feel now I've reached a certain point I can start having a bit more fun with the story rather than just having to set up some of the locations and characters etc. From now on it gets saucay! Keep an eye on the horizon!_

_P.S. A bit of waff in this one. Don't get too excited now :P_

_More than anything: I hope you all enjoy! Please let me know if you did; after all, that's what I'm here for._

_- Mar_

* * *

The two teens stepped out into the sunlight, shielding their eyes from the glare as they did.

After lunch, the two had debated about what they would do for the rest of the day. It seemed the resort had just about everything you could think of, so they had trouble deciding at first. Fishing or Diving? Arcade or cinema? Squash or golf? Perhaps just a walk to see the sights and tourist attractions?

Asuka had then remembered the tennis courts she had seen after running away from the pool. Deciding for the both of them, she had dragged Shinji back to the room to change. Now they stood outside the equipment hire with a pair of rackets and some tennis balls.

Choosing a court that was empty, the two of them took their respective places on either side of the net.

The redhead turned to face her opponent.

Being the almighty Asuka Langley Sohryu, she obviously knew how to play, and rather well too. She decided that she would play with her rival for a bit, letting him win some sets, before totally crushing him. That would improve her mood. She would show him that he wasn't the only one who could be a manipulative bastard, remembering the way he had unknowingly screwed with her feelings earlier. Tormenting the poor boy was definitely one of her favourite pastimes and a good way to brighten her mood.

On the other side of the net, Shinji readied himself, trying to hide a smile. _'She expects me to have no hope, but I have a little surprise up my sleeve ... all I have to do is stay cool and keep a clear head, and I should be ok...'_

However, he was finding it harder to concentrate than he first thought; Asuka was wearing just about the shortest tennis skirt imaginable, and it was playing with his head. He found it weird she had brought an outfit like this specially for tennis, but after remembering the weight of her carry bag at the airport, he realised Asuka had probably brought a piece of clothing for every situation imaginable.

Attempting to shake himself out of it, he shouted to his roommate.

"You serve first." He threw her the ball, slightly surprised to find it travelling further than he expected. _'At least being an Eva pilot is good for something ...'_

"Alright," responded his roommate, holding the ball up high, "First one to win ten sets will be crowned King, but more likely queen, of tennis!"

She gritted her teeth, and under her breath added, "You're going down Third Child."

Pausing only for a moment, she tossed the ball upwards. The throw was so high, Shinji lost sight of it momentarily as it disappeared into the sun; he only regained sight of the ball as it flew past his head at a million miles per hour only a second later.

"Nyaaah!" was all he could cry as the ball ricocheted off the ground next to him and bounced off the back fence.

He looked back at his roommate, not at all shocked to find Asuka's patented smirk flying over the net, just as the ball had.

"One – love, Shinji!" she said in a seductive voice, winking sexily.

Shinji lost his cool for a moment, but in true Asuka fashion, such an act could only be for one reason; a second later, another ball came whizzing past, again almost striking Shinji in the face.

"Damnit!" the boy cried as he realised his mistake, annoyed he had been fooled so easily.

"2 – love!" the girl cried before laughing maniacally.

'_Ok time to pull it together,' _thought Shinji, getting into a wide stance, spinning the racket in his hands, _'let's show this bitch who the real king or queen of tennis is.'_

He could feel the fire of self-assurance igniting inside of him, and realised momentarily that he had never been more confident in his whole life, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that; the redhead had already served the next ball, and it was barrelling straight towards him.

Side stepping quickly thanks to his light and agile frame, he swung the racket hard. There was a loud THOCK as the ball connected and it shot across the court at high speed. Asuka wasn't ready for it and it sailed past her, giving Shinji his first win.

'_Haha, I still got it!' _Shinji thought joyously, enjoying his brief victory.

'_What the hell was that?'_ Asuka asked herself as she stared at the ball now rolling slowly across the court, _'Probably just beginners luck ...'_

Her eyes narrowed as she threw the ball over to Shinji, waiting for his serve.

He threw the ball up high and sent it rocketing across to Asuka, who was once again surprised by the power of his serve. This time however, she anticipated it. Smacking it back even harder, now to the side of the court Shinji wasn't on. He dived, backhanding it just in time.

Just like that, the court had turned into a battlefield. The ball was flying over the net at amazing speeds as both sides fought for supremacy. Sweat began to roll down both teens as they ran back and forth, grunting as they swung their rackets. This was no longer a friendly match between friends; this was a battle for pride.

Three quarters of an hour later, Asuka was now on 9 wins, but only just beating Shinji on 8 wins.

"Since when –"THOCK "-did you-"THOCK "-know how-"THOCK "-to play!" the redhead yelled between swings.

"Just Lucky-"THOCK "-I guess!" the boy cried, grinning as he smacked the ball hard over the net, winning himself another set, making them even with 1 win to go.

"Fuck!" Asuka yelled as she stopped to catch her breath for a second.

"What's the matter?" yelled Shinji, surprising himself at the self-assurance he heard in his own voice, "Ready to admit defeat?"

The redhead's eyes narrowed and Shinji could almost feel the heat from her burning hatred.

"As if! I'm just getting started Third Child," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "but why don't we make this interesting?"

"Another bet?" Shinji inquired, raising an eyebrow. _'Has this girl got a gambling addiction or something?'_

"Yep! If I win, you not only shout dinner tonight, but tomorrow night as well!"

"And if I win?"

Asuka smiled. "In the unlikely event of that, I will gladly pay for both nights instead."

Shinji thought about it for a moment, but only for a moment.

"Deal!" he said, grinning as he did, "Get ready!"

"I've been ready my whole life Third Child! Bring it, and don't hold back!" she almost screamed, widening her stance and glaring at her opponent venomously.

Shinji nodded, and lobbed the ball high into the deep, blue sky. There was a moment of silence as it whistled through the air, turning and spiralling upwards, before it plummeted back to Earth, and the war began once more. Shinji swung his racket and walloped the ball with unbelievable strength. She returned it back across the net with equal power, continuing their battle, neither of them refusing to give in.

For the next few minutes they fought ferociously, their rackets turning into extensions of their own hands, neither of them willing to give the other an inch, pushing themselves over the edge.

A small crowd had even gathered around the edge of the court, watching the two teens go at it with wonder and awe. The pilots did not notice however; all that mattered was winning, and nothing else.

Asuka was growing tired, and felt herself losing it.

'_What the hell is with him?' _her mind screamed as she returned the ball again, _'All of a sudden he's Mr Big Shot! Although, this is a side of him I've never seen before. Assertive, dominant ... NO! Now is not the time to think like that! If this goes on any longer, I'm gonna lose it though! Gotta end it now ...'_

As the ball came flying over the net towards her, Asuka decided to try something. She smacked the ball, but much softer than she had done up until now. The ball almost seemed to float through the air compared to the speed it was travelling before, and there was an audible gasp from the crowd.

Shinji realised what was happening and powered forward as the ball _just_ cleared the net and bounced once. He dived, and caught the ball just in time, smacking it as hard as he could over the netting.

Shinji leapt to his feet as quickly as he could, but as the ball flew towards Asuka, the girl's eyes lit up in triumph. She pulled her swing, and the ball flew past her, hitting the fence at the back of the court.

The ball was out. Asuka had won.

"YES!" the redhead cried in victory, pointing a finger at the boy, "DER SIEG IST MEIN! IN YOUR FACE SHINJI! HAHAHA!"

As she jumped up and down, punching the air, the crowd around them applauded, pulling them both out of their stupor. Asuka's celebration stopped momentarily as they both blushed. The crowd finished clapping and moved on, many of them wolf whistling and yelling congratulations to the redhead.

The two teens limped over to the net. Asuka had the biggest smile Shinji had ever seen lighting up her face. She had never been so happy to beat him at anything before.

"Don't feel bad Shinji!" the girl teased as she leant on the net, inadvertently showing the boy some cleavage, "No one can beat the mighty Asuka Langely Sohryu!"

Shinji smiled as he struggled to catch his breath, "Good game Asuka."

"Yeah, good game Baka," she replied.

Shinji held out a hand, and Asuka shook it, surprised for a moment by the strength of his handshake.

"Now! You're gonna tell me how the hell you know how to play tennis so well! You never mentioned this before!" she yelled, pointing a finger at him threateningly.

Shinji chuckled, "At my old school, I joined the tennis club for a bit. The coach said I had a natural talent for it, but I didn't stay for very long thanks to study, Cello practise, and moving to Tokyo-3. I just never got back into it again."

"Well those were some impressive skills you idiot! And to think you're always going on about how you're useless and can't do anything!"

Shinji raised an eyebrow, "Err, you're the one always saying that Asuka."

"Alright, alright! Just take the compliment already!"

"Thanks," responded the boy with another smile.

Asuka looked down at him, surprise filling her voice as she spoke.

"Hey, you're bleeding."

Shinji looked down at himself, noticing his elbows and knees were cut up.

"Ah, I must have done it when I dived for that save."

"Come on," said the redhead, grabbing him by the arm, "let's get you cleaned up."

"Ow! Be careful, that stings!"

"Quit your whinging."

* * *

The sun was just beginning to set over the ocean as they entered their room. The bright auburn rays streamed through the venetian blinds, covering the entire suite in a warm glow. The bars of light created strange patterns against the wall, wiggling as the slight breeze from the air conditioning tickled the blinds.

"Sit!" Asuka ordered as she moved off to the other room, "I'll go see if they have any first aid stuff."

"Alright," Shinji responded as he plopped down on the couch, exhaustion overcoming him.

Turning his head to look at the sunset, he pondered about the day's events.

'_God its been a long day, and it isn't even over yet.'_ He sighed. _'Can I live through another 4 days of this?'_

Asuka came back into the room holding a stereotypical red box with a white cross on it.

Sitting down heavily beside Shinji on the couch, she opened the box and began pulling items out of it.

Shinji held out his arms, "Thanks Asuka."

"No worries baka. After all, I do feel _a little _sorry for you."

Dipping a cotton ball in iodine, she dabbed it on his cuts. Shinji gasped as it stung painfully.

"Ow."

"Quit your bitching," Asuka responded, but Shinji could have sworn she became a little more gentle after that.

They sat in silence for 5 minutes as Asuka tended to his wounds, neither of them sure what to say. Eventually, after putting some bandaids on, it was all done.

"Good as new," she said, standing up, "Now let's get ready for dinner."

She made her way over to the doorway, "Dress fancy now!" she jeered, winking as she left the room again.

Shinji looked at the spot she had recently vacated dumbly. _'God, she's planning on picking the most expensive place isn't she?'_

Sighing in resolution, he got up and moved to his room slowly. He really was tired, but despite what it was going to cost him, he was looking forward to this dinner. It was almost like ...

Opening the door to his room, Shinji shook his head. _'No, don't be stupid. It's nothing like that and you know it. Asuka just wants free food.'_

Despite this, as Shinji got ready for the dinner, he couldn't help feeling a little excited. He had never been on a date before, and he supposed this was what it felt like.

As Shinji made his way back to the lounge room, he pondered which of Asuka's many, many outfits she had chosen.

When he entered the room however, all these thoughts were wiped from his mind. Asuka stood before him wearing a white and black blouse with short shorts, which as Shinji noted mentally, didn't leave too much to the imagination in the leg and chest department.

'_Ah. That one.'_

It took all of his willpower to try and stay focused and he used looking up at the clock as an excuse to tear his eyes off her. He noticed it was nearly 7 O'clock.

"R-ready to go?" he asked weakly, and Asuka glanced at him with an odd look.

'_Looks like my outfit has had the desired effect_,' she thought to herself with pride. She loved teasing the boy every chance she got, and dressing up in revealing outfits was something that never failed to please.

"Sure," was her response, waving her arm towards the door, "Ladies first."

Shinji grumbled and lead the way. After they had locked up, the two teens made their way to the elevator.

They had barely pressed the button before the growingly familiar ping of the elevator doors opening met their ears, and they stepped inside, selecting the floor of the restaurant.

As the cables hummed into life, the two teens stood in silence once again. Shinji couldn't help but stare at his companion out of the corner of his eye. He didn't want to annoy Asuka, and he knew it was rude to stare, but the boy couldn't help it; she looked absolutely beautiful after all.

On the other side of the elevator, Asuka couldn't help but bathe in the attention. She knew he was staring at her, and the redhead was enjoying making him uncomfortable.

When the elevator arrived at the appropriate floor, they both stepped out and headed for the restaurant.

Upon arrival, they noted that the establishment seemed more like a glorified bar than a restaurant. The lighting was low and warm, and it seemed to wash over everything, giving the entire room a very homely and familiar feel. The carpet was similar to upstairs, and there didn't seem to be a single bright colour in the entire room; it was nothing but brown and beige, tinged by the green palm plants that were scattered around the place. The room was filled with small tables adorned with a single candle, with a large counter which ran the entire length of one of the walls; Shinji noticed that behind it were many different kinds of booze. Men and women in tailcoats moved briskly among the patrons, taking orders and clearing tables. The atmosphere was great, with the place barely occupied.

The two of them took a seat, and one of the waiters wandered over, holding a metal tray under one arm.

"What can I get the lovely couple this evening?" the young man enquired, a European accent of some kind poking through his discourse.

Shinji immediately went red, and Asuka looked as if the waiter had whacked her over the head with the tray he was carrying.

"We're not together," she said crudely, opening the menu to hide her face.

"Ah, I'll just have an orange juice please," Shinji said, attempting to break the uneasiness that had settled upon their table.

Behind her menu, the redhead snorted, but Shinji ignored her.

"And for the lady?" asked the waiter, the tiniest hint of contempt seeping into his voice.

"Sake," she said, snapping her menu shut, "Thank you."

"No problem," replied the waiter, before moving off into the crowd.

Shinji leaned forward, almost whispering.

"Sake, Asuka? You're underage."

She let off a grin and winked at the boy, "Yeah but they don't know that."

Shinji looked her up and down.

'I_ don't think anyone would debate the fact she's underage_,' he thought, eyeing her revealing dress once more. '_Not with those assets ..._ _then again,' _he reminded himself, '_even if they did, she would probably just yell at them until they give her what she wants … same as she does to me.'_

Shinji caught himself staring into space, and proceeded to try and focus his attention on something else. Asuka had noticed this though, and she couldn't help but grin.

'_What an idiot._'

The waiter showed up with their drinks and left the two of them in peace once again.

"That was a mean game of tennis you played earlier Shinji," Asuka finally said, striking up a conversation to break the silence.

Shinji's attention returned to the redhead, only this time it was to her face.

"Err, thanks. You didn't do half bad yourself," he responded.

"Pfft, half bad? Did the fall screw with your memory as well?" she teased, leaning in closer to assert her authority, "I won, remember?"

Shinji laughed, "That you did. I do have one question though ..." Asuka gave him a thoughtful look as she grabbed her cup.

"When did you get so good at hitting balls?" he asked his voice completely devoid of emotion as he took a sip of juice.

Asuka almost spat out her drink, trying to stifle laughter, and Shinji couldn't hold it back any more either.

"Godamnit Shinji," she said in between coughs, kicking him under the table, "I almost inhaled my drink!"

This only caused him to laugh harder, and Asuka gave him another kick, this time much harder, "Stop laughing!"

Pain brought Shinji back to Earth, and he wiped the tears forming in his eyes, "Playing tennis! I meant playing tennis! Sorry, I couldn't resist."

He felt Asuka's foot connect with his shin once more, and he cried out in pain, smile immediately wiped from his face. "OW, what was that one for?"

"Apologising," she said, "After seeing your performance today, it seems that a spine does in fact exist in that back of yours," the redhead began, pausing only to find words before continuing, "and that it is possible for you to actually grow a pair."

She leant forward, slamming her hands on the table, "I am sick of the apologies, the timidness, the awkward Shinji. I want to see more of the Shinji I saw today, the one that fought back and didn't give in. It will be good for not only piloting the Eva's, but also for a nice change of pace. So from now on," she inched closer, revealing more and more of her cleavage, "every time you run away or apologise, I am going to hurt you. Capiche?"

Shinji stared at her for a moment, his muscles locked up, unable to move, unsure what to do. '_She's acting as if she's doing me a favour… Fine, she wants to see confident Shinji? So be it ... besides, pain does suck_.'

"Jawohl!" he said, saluting, causing some odd looks from nearby patrons.

"That's more like it," she concluded, sinking back into her chair and crossing her arms, "I don't know where this confidence is coming from lately, but keep it coming. It's a good change of pace."

Shinji sighed in resolution. _When Asuka wants something, she sure doesn't beat around the bush ... but that's how she does things I suppose._

They sat in silence for a bit longer.

'Try some Sake,' Asuke offered out of nowhere, surprising the boy.

"I err …" he fumbled, before looking up at the girl, seeing the look on her face and remembering what he had just promised.

He swallowed, "Ok." He had never tried Sake before.

"That's the spirit!" she cried, pouring him a cup.

"To good health and good times!" she said, holding up her glass.

"To our trip," responded Shinji with a smile, before downing the contents.

Shinji had never felt anything like it; the warm liquid burned his throat on the way down, leaving him gasping and almost choking. It tasted like swallowing paint stripper.

Asuka grinned at his response, pouring another cup.

For the next hour, they drank and ate dinner, enjoying each other's company. There were moments of complete silence, and moments of intense conversation.

At one point they got into a heated argument regarding Misato's drinking habits and why they thought she downs a can or two every morning, causing even more weird looks in their direction, but they didn't notice.

The only thing they noticed throughout dinner was each other.

* * *

A couple of hours, and a couple more glasses of Sake later, the two of them decided it would be best to go back to the room. It was getting late and neither of them wanted to miss out on half a day because they were too busy sleeping. Besides, they were both destroyed from all the excitement earlier in the day.

"Come on, we should be going," Shinji said, standing up and stretching.

"Yeah, you're probably right ..." was the redhead's response, before attempting to stand.

"Jeez Asuka, how much did you have?" asked the boy, hiccupping as he did, realising he had a fair few as well.

"Sssh you," she said, holding on to the chair rather tightly.

Shinji sighed, "Come on, I'll help you up to the room."

"Pfft, I don't need your help, pervert." Never the less, she wrapped he arm around his shoulder and he helped her up.

"Don't you try anything just cause I've had a few!" she added as they made their way to the door.

"I won't try anything, I swear," he said, amused that she was even more like Asuka when she was drunk.

The small flight of stairs to the elevator was tricky, but once they were past that, it was smooth sailing.

Shinji called for the elevator and it arrived with its patented ding. Stepping inside, he pushed the button for their floor.

As the two teens stood in the elevator, he realised how close they were. Shinji could smell her perfume, and feel her body heat against him. That dress was still driving him wild, and from where he was, he had a perfect view. As soon as he realised he went bright red, trying to look anywhere but down.

'_God this elevator is cursed with awkwardness ... when will it end?'_

With that thought, the doors opened and he dragged Asuka into the hall and down to their room. By now she was beginning to fall asleep, and Shinji was having trouble keeping her upright.

"Hold on, only a little further to go."

"Ahhh shaddap!"

He could smell the alcohol on her breath as he unlocked the door, and the warm but distant comfort of a home away from home greeted them as they entered the room. Turning on the light with his spare hand, he navigated Asuka to her room, almost tripping through the hall.

Shinji opened the door with his foot, and gently tried to lower the redhead onto her bed. It all didn't go quite according to plan however, as Asuka did not have much of what one would call balance at this point, due to a combination of alcohol and drowsiness. Instead of sitting down like she had meant to, she fell clumsily on her back, and considering she was using Shinji's arm as a balance point previously, to his horror, he was dragged down with her.

The girl hit the bed and began to laugh at her clumsiness as Shinji fell on top of her, stopping himself with his arms at the last second.

As Asuka regained control of her laughter, a grin crawled across her face as she noticed their predicament.

At this point, Shinji had lost control; he had turned the colour of a ripe tomato and movement had become impossible. He didn't know what to do, or what to think. He was reminded of that moment with Rei he had always tried to block out.

The fact that Asuka was smiling at him, with her hair lightly messed up, pristine blue eyes glinting from the moonlight that streaked through the window, did not help either.

"What's the matter Shinji? You look flustered," she teased, looking him straight in the eye when she said it. He noticed that one of the straps on her dress had slipped off her shoulder, once again attempted to avert his eyes.

"Don't you want to look at me?" enquired Asuka in her drunken state, grabbing Shinji's cheeks and yanking his head back, "Am I ugly?" she asked stupidly, half talking, half laughing as she did so.

Shinji just stared back. His mind had locked up, but his heart was still working. He said the first thing that came out, like he had on several occasions previously.

"O-of course not, you look stunning."

It took a moment for Shinji to realise the full implications of what he had just uttered, and pure fear filled him as Asuka's grin faded.

'_Why the fuck do I keep saying things that just pop into my head! I really need to stop doing that!' _He reminded himself that he and his brain were going to have a thorough chat later on.

The redhead continued to stare into his eyes with a look of bewilderment, before she finally smiled.

"Is baka Shinji finally *_HIC* _growing some balls?" she teased again, before giving the boy a playful slap across the cheek.

That slap finally seemed to snap Shinji out of his daze, and he suddenly realised he had control over his arms and legs again. He pushed himself up and off the bed, heading for the door, but Asuka was still gripping onto his arm tightly.

"Shinji..." she almost whispered. The boy's heart skipped a beat upon hearing his name, and he slowly turned to face her.

"Y-yes Asuka?" he enquired nervously, unsure of what would follow. He was surprised to find her with a very serious look on her face. It was as if she wasn't even drunk anymore.

"I know I can be a royal bitch sometimes," she began, never taking her eyes off his, "like today at the pool but –" she hesitated for a moment, biting her lip, "but I had a really good time tonight."

Now it was her turn to look elsewhere as she grinned.

"Was better than doing nothing I suppose."

Shinji couldn't believe it. Who was this girl, and what had she done with Asuka?

'_Alcohol definitely does things to you. Now I know why Misato is so screwed up all the time.'_

Sighing, he decided to accept the gratitude and get out of there as quickly as possible.

"N-no problem."

"Why so nervous Shinji?" the redhead asked slyly. All of a sudden she smirked, and Shinji knew from previous experiences that pain and agony would soon follow. He attempted to escape, but the redhead was quicker.

She pulled him roughly and he fell onto the bed, before Asuka jumped on top of him, pinning his arms so he couldn't escape.

Her grin became wider, and Shinji was almost dying from fear, however underneath the blanket of terror, he felt warmth inside that he hadn't really felt before. Being in her arms...

"That was real nice you know..." Asuka whispered, and Shinji finally noticed how close they really were.

"W-w-what w-was?" he spluttered, and the girl continued to look at him with a vague look in her eyes.

"Saying I was stunning and everything ..."

Shinji found himself being drawn into her eyes, and the distance closed between the two of them.

'_Is this really happening?'_ thought Shinji as the redhead closed her eyes, _'Is this just a sick dream I'm having? Am I going to wake up with Misato abusing me or something?'_

Asuka's lips were inches away now, and Shinji felt her warm breath on his cheek. Her grip was no longer vice like, and was loosening as she inched closer and closer.

Shinji shut his eyes, waiting...

Waiting ...

Still waiting.

Suddenly he heard a sigh and felt hair on his face. He opened his eyes only to find Asuka's head buried in his shoulder. The sound of snoring indicated she had fallen asleep.

Shinji blew her hair out of his face with the corner of his mouth, his heartbeat gradually returning to normal, before cursing the redhead as he realised something.

'_Even when she's drunk she's still screwing with me; trying to get a reaction.'_

He gently pushed the girl off of him, before getting up off the bed. She instinctively rolled into a ball and began to shiver with the sudden loss of warmth. The boy grabbed the sheets and placed them over her, tucking them in tightly before moving to the door.

Taking one last look at her sleeping form, he smiled.

'_She probably won't remember any of this tomorrow ... thank god. As if that elevator wasn't awkward enough ...'_

After this little bit of uncomfortableness, being in her arms had still felt nice ... even if she was smashed.

He slowly shut the door and moved off to his room. Getting undressed, he hopped into bed himself. Looking at the alarm clock, he noticed it was almost one in the morning.

'_What a strange day,' _he thought as his eyelids became heavy, and he began to drift off to sleep.

'_And I'll get to do it all again tomorrow ...'_

As his mind began to wander and fill with dreams of laughter, short dresses and cheap sake, Shinji had one last thought which made him smile weakly into his pillow.

'_Good thing she didn't suspect I let her win that tennis match ... she'd kill me for sure._'

* * *

**END NOTES:**

_Will Asuka remember the previous night?_

_How will Shinji deal with it in the morning? _

_Will he keep it a secret or say something like a crazy fool?_

_Will the elevator ever learn to love?_

_All this and more in the next chapter! Tune in next time for The Trip - Chapter 5: The Beach!_

_P.S. See how much innuendo you can spot in this chapter! So much ball related humor._


End file.
